A number of vehicle covers have been developed in recent years for various purposes Most of these covers are designed to simply protect a vehicle's exterior, i.e. painted surfaces, vinyl roof etc. from the elements.
A few covers, however, have been designed to not only protect a vehicle's exterior but to also reduce the buildup of heat in the vehicles interior. High heat is not only, quite obviously, uncomfortable for people just getting into the vehicle on a hot day but it can also cause damage to the vehicle's interior, particularly the vinyl covered surfaces of the vehicle such as the dashboard. Heat can also cause damage to items left in the vehicle such as magnetic tape recordings.
A few vehicle covers have also been specifically developed for use during the winter. These covers ostensibly make it easy to remove snow and ice covering a vehicle. The snow and ice is removed by simply removing or pulling the cover off the vehicle. In actuality, however, the removal of such a cover is often not easy since the cover often freezes to the vehicle's surface when ambient temperatures drop below freezing. Such freezing is apparently caused by the buildup of condensation on the vehicle's surface under the cover. When freezing conditions occur, the condensation freezes causing the cover to freeze to the vehicle's surface. Such freezing can also occur if the vehicle is wet when the cover is placed on the U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,036 to Gebhardt discloses a cover which is claimed to solve the aforementioned freezing problem. Gebhardt's cover includes a pair of sheets in opposed relationship which are adjoined at their ends to form a pocket. Resilient means are disposed in the pocket to provide a plurality of interstices. The interstices serve as insulating air pockets to prevent the inner surface of the cover from sticking to the adjacent window. The resilient means preferably includes a plurality of coil springs which prevent damage to the sheets when pulling the cover off the vehicle since the springs bear the load of accumulated snow and ice instead of the sheets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,197 to Fischer discloses a vehicle cover for use during the winter and summer. Fischer's cover includes at least two protector parts which are detachably connectable to the vehicle. Each part is designed to extend at least over the vehicle windowpanes and overlap each other in the middle region of the vehicle extending along the vehicle's longitudinal axis. Fischer's cover can also include spacer ribs of resilient material which are located on the inside surface of the cover to space the cover from the surface of the vehicle. The space serves to enhance drying of the cover. Fischer also discloses that drying can be further enhanced by incorporating a plurality of covered ventilating apertures in the cover.
In addition, Fischer states that the cover will not freeze or stick to a vehicle's surface if it is made from a water repellant material. Fischer, however, does not disclose any specific water repellant materials which are capable of preventing ice from sticking to it. The inventor of the present invention does not believe that any such materials exist, at least not any which are both flexible and strong enough to not rip or tear when being pulled off a car covered with snow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,993 to Hooper discloses a multi-layered car cover having an outer layer which is resistant to sunlight and a soft inner layer for preventing the cover from sticking to or scratching a vehicle's windshield. Hooper also discloses that an additional layer of insulating material can be inserted between the inner and outer cover to improve the insulating properties of the cover. While this cover is designed to be used year round, it does not appear that Hooper considered the problem of a cover freezing to the windshield. Other patents disclosing covers for windshields or for vehicles include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,599,066 to Osborn, 3,021,894 to G. F. LaDue and 3,316,012 to Thier.
Despite some of the claims made in the aforementioned patents, a need still exists for a vehicle cover which is easy to pull off a vehicle's surface even if it is frozen to the vehicle's surface. Such a cover should also preferably be usable during the summer months to reflect light away from the car, thereby keeping the car's interior as cool as possible. Such a cover should also preferably be relatively simple in design so that the cover is easily manufactured and thereby relatively inexpensive.